The Isaacman Family Children’s Emergency Room at St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital, Bethlehem, is open.

“This important addition to St. Luke’s University Hospital’s Bethlehem Campus was made possible by a generous contribution from Jared and Monica Isaacman,” said Rick Anderson, President & Chief Executive Officer of St. Luke’s University Health Network.

“Thanks to their kindness and the commitment to our community demonstrated by the Isaacmans, the Isaacman Family Children’s ER will provide care to children and their families in their time of need,” Anderson said.

Jared Isaacman is founder and Chief Executive Officer of Shift4, a leader in integrated payment processing solutions based in Allentown. Isaacman is an influential business leader, an accomplished pilot and astronaut with more than 7,000 flight hours of aviation experience, including ratings in multiple experimental and ex-military aircraft.

He was the commander of Inspiration4, the world’s first all-civilian mission to orbit and will command the Polaris Dawn mission, a first-of-its-kind effort to advance human spaceflight capabilities that will include five days in orbit.

“I was introduced to Jared a few years ago, and it has been a pleasure getting to know him,” said Robby Wax, Senior Vice President & General Counsel of St. Luke’s University Health Network.

“As a native of Allentown, I was excited to meet someone in my own community with such an interesting background. I have been impressed with his philanthropic focus through Shift4 and his space exploration activities, and I was extremely pleased when he and his wife expressed interest in assisting St. Luke’s pediatric patients in our community,” Wax said.

“My family uses St. Luke’s for their healthcare needs, as do many of my colleagues and their families at Shift4,” said Isaacman. “I know St. Luke’s is one of the country’s leading hospital networks, and Monica and I are grateful for the opportunity to support the St. Luke’s mission to care for children in our community.”

The Isaacman Family Children’s ER, which was dedicated Oct. 16, has a waiting area with a soothing environment to help children to feel comfortable. Children receive care apart and separate from services provided to adult patients.

The Isaacman Family Children’s ER is supported by pediatric specialists, including board-certified pediatric emergency medicine physicians, and equipped with diagnostic and therapeutic tools to meet the needs of children.

Children have access to on-site therapists with expertise in child development, psychology and counseling. Therapists assist in explaining diagnoses and treatment options to children and their parents using age-appropriate words and concepts.

“The new Isaacman Family Children’s ER will offer an array of services unmatched in the region,” said Carol Kuplen, President of St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus.

In June 2023, St. Luke’s announced the opening of its St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital. The team of 35-plus pediatric specialists includes the region’s only pediatric nephrologist, only developmental pediatricians and the largest team of fellowship-trained pediatric orthopedic surgeons in the area.

The opening of St. Luke’s Children’s Hospital was the culmination of several years’ of effort to assemble key building blocks. In 2020, St. Luke’s Bethlehem Campus added a $5-million, eight-bed Pediatric Intensive Care Unit, which provides advanced care to critically-ill children.

In May 2022, St. Luke’s Pediatric Specialty Center, the region’s first and only free-standing facility dedicated entirely to children, opened, allowing families to coordinate multiple specialty appointments in the same day at one convenient location in Center Valley.

Shortly thereafter, St. Luke’s 17-bed pediatric inpatient unit at the Bethlehem Campus was renovated and relocated to include 24-7 coverage, support from pediatric trained respiratory therapists and specialty-trained pediatric nurses, pharmacists and pediatric surgeons.